Investing time in a risk assessment protects members and ensures you comply with health and safety guidance. Moreover, it makes you a responsible leisure centre/gym owner who prioritises the safety of staff and clients. A  risk assessment can cover a number of areas, from hygiene and ventilation to equipment maintenance and member education. Our Gyms and Leisure Centre Pages can guide you through the health and safety requirements.

Our Pools and hot tub pages offer an overview of guidance available to operators of swimming pools and spa pool facilities. Pool operators are legally required to protect the health and safety of workers and pool users.There are no swimming pool specific health and safety laws. However, swimming pool operators must comply with their general duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the associated regulations

Anyone with control of non-domestic premises (such as a village or community hall) has legal responsibilities under health and safety law.

They must take reasonable measures to ensure the hall, access to it and any equipment or substances provided are safe for people using it, so far as is 'reasonably practicable'. This means balancing the level of risk against the measures needed to control the real risk in terms of money, time or trouble.

Responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the hall may be organised by the owner or by a voluntary management committee.

See our Community and Village Hall pages for more specific information

Our Amateur Sports Clubs page provides guidance and tools to help those running sports clubs (Football, Rugby, Tennis, Cricket, Hockey etc.) to understand what they may need to do to comply with workplace health and safety law.

The HSE offer comprehensive guidance on bouncy castles and other play inflatables

Cross bay walks - guidance for walkers and organisers was drawn up by Lancaster City Council with South Lakeland District Council following consultation with the HM Coastguard, Police and local operators as part of a cross boundary working group.

The HSE has pages dedicated to fairgrounds and fairground rides

The HSE has pages dedicated to film, theatre & broadcasting 

Over the past few years there has been an increase in the number of accidents occurring at the parks, involving both children and adults, which resulted in a specified major injury (fracture) as well as a small number which resulted in life-changing injuries.

Trampoline parks must:

1. Establish procedures to check user understanding of the risks of using trampolines & other equipment (esp airbags/foampits) following the delivery of the parks safety messages;
2. The need to provide effective supervision of users of all activities within the facility, and;
3. Ensure Court Monitors are fully trained and provide adequate supervision of the trampoline court in line with the guidelines of Section 5 of BSI PAS 5000:2017. For example training such as IATP Level 1
4. Ensure that air bags are monitored at all times and persons who do not land correctly are spoken to by court monitors.
5. Remember that under the arena area must be maintained and adequately cleaned. Ensure staff can easily access under the arena and escape or be rescued in an emergancy.

• RoSPA - Trampoline parks
• RMP - Risk control - The ups and downs of trampoline parks

All animals naturally carry a range of microorganisms, some of which can be transmitted to humans. Diseases passed from animals to humans are known as zoonoses. Some zoonotic diseases are more serious than others.

There are a range of zoonotic diseases that could be acquired from animal contact at visitor attractions including E. coli O157 and Cryptosporidium parvum.

Simply carrying the bacterium will not normally cause an animal any harm or illness, but contact with contaminated animals or their faeces can cause illness ranging from diarrhoea to kidney failure in humans. In some cases, the illness can be fatal. Young children and the elderly are at the greatest risk. Very low numbers of microorganisms can cause human infection.

People can become infected by microorganisms such E. coli O157 or Cryptosporidium parvum through consuming contaminated food or drink, through direct contact with contaminated animals, or by contact with an environment contaminated with animal faeces.

Therefore, as with many other activities, visits to such premises can never be considered free from all risk. However, implementing effective control measures will help ensure that the risk of infection from contact with animals is low. If you invite the public onto your farm:

• decide whether you want to allow visitors to have direct contact with the animals. Tell them about the risks and where and when they will be able to use washing facilities (in particular, remind nail biters, pen chewers and thumb suckers). Provide information signs to remind them;
• washing facilities should be sufficient for the expected numbers of visitors needing to use them at one time, and should include running water (preferably warm), soap and paper towels;
• alcohol gels and wipes are not a substitute for hand washing on farms;
• provide training and supervision for workers on the need for visitors to wash and dry their hands thoroughly;
• if you are selling food for human consumption do so only after visitors have passed animal contact areas and washing facilities;
• do not allow eating in parts of the farm where animals can be touched.

A 'Code of Practice' has been produced by the industry and is aimed at the owners, operators and managers of such visitor premises. It provides guidance, including pictures and real-life case studies, of practical measures that you can apply at your premises to help you comply with the law and keep visitors safe. The code, along with a summary of controls and a teacher's supplement is available at the my farm website.

Further information can also be found in HSE's Operational guidance 121, Preventing or controlling ill health from animal contact at visitor attractions - Guidance on inspection and enforcement.

Handwashing

Handwashing is a vital control measure in all cases when you allow members of the public to touch and stroke animals. Sanitizers alone are not suitable nor sufficient, but can be offered after hand washing. If you plan to allow persons to pet animals at a village fair or temporary Santa's grotto, then you must provide mobile hand washing facilities, adjacent to the petting area (General toilet facilities are not a suitable option). OurHandwashing advice for mobile caterers, market traders and other mobile food vendors (PDF, 1.5MB) leaflet demonstrates hand washing units that can be purchased or hired and used at an event.You must also provide signage that reminds people to wash their hands and takes about the general risks of failing to wash theri hands. If suitable and sufficient hand washing facilities are not provided then it is likely Inspectors will closed the petting attraction until suitable hand washing facilities can be provided. 

The motor leisure and motorsport industries are adrenaline/high energy activities (karting, track days etc.) and can place members of the public in proximity of risks which if not controlled can lead to serious incidents and injury, including fatalities.

Managing health and safety at motorsport events: A guide for motorsport event organisers (HSG 112) is primarily aimed at helping motorsport event organisers to understand what they need to do to comply with the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (the HSW Act) and the regulations made under it.

This guide will help with the safe running of events at permanent venues such as race circuits or at temporary venues such as a grass track meeting on a farmer's field. It will help you to minimise risks in a proportionate way, which does not unduly restrict participation in this leisure activity.

• An update to legislation and links to further guidance.
• A clearer explanation of what the guidance is about, what is required, what action to take and why.
• A clearer and more logical structure that aims to help the reader to scan, understand and assimilate the content.

There can be a lack of awareness and understanding of the difference between the design, specification, and use of vehicle restraint barriers, versus the design, specification, and use of generic directional segregation barriers. Inappropriate, untested and or unapproved barriers must not be used as vehicle restraint barriers on tracks and circuits. Please see the HSE safety Notice for more information:

Motorsport/Leisure Track Safety: track-side vehicle restraint barriers - Safety notice - HSE

Whilst both of these documents were written with motor-sports in mind, the same principles apply to less powerful vehicles such as go-karts an soap boxes. Because these vehicles are not moving as fast the control measures can be proportionately reduced. i.e. there will not be as much force in a crash and therefore your vehicle restraint barriers will not need to meet the same specifications.

Our guide to running Amateur Sports Clubs may also be useful.

This guidance is a valuable tool for enforcement officers, vets, representatives of professional equine organisations and those responsible for complying with health and safety legislation in riding establishments and livery yards: Health and safety in horse riding and livery yeards - what you should know (CIEH)